A Malaysian high court on Friday jailed three family members who suffocated their two-year-old to death by piling on top of her in a suspected exorcism ritual.

Chua Wan Zuen, aged two, died after being pinned down under a blanket in August last year with eight people, including her parents, crushing her for several hours in an attempt to drive away evil spirits.

The girl’s aunt, who was determined to be suffering from schizophrenia, was allegedly responsible for the exorcism idea. The intent, as Buddhists, was to help the child as they truly believed she was possessed.

These stories are profoundly disturbing. Once again, we see mental health issues raised. Was the child ill as well as the aunt? Why was this not noticed? I might as well not ask that questions. It’s impossible to say if it was ignorance or if mental causes were deliberately rejected. Regardless, another life is lost in a barbaric, unenlightened practice of driving non-existent demons out of people.